


Found You

by Raven_Ehtar



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid!Loki (Marvel), Kid!Tony Stark, Light Angst, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Sweet, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 12:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18691267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/pseuds/Raven_Ehtar
Summary: Tony isn't hiding from his responsibilities, he'snot. But someone still manages to find him. And together the two of them hide away from everyone and everything else.((Implied abuse is all mental/emotional, and implied very lightly. Tag is for safety.))





	Found You

**Author's Note:**

> Story number 2 for Story a Day May!
> 
> I'm going to have to start doing shorter stories than this. I'm half an hour away from the cutoff time, yeesh. Again, I'm working really fast, so there's probably still plenty of errors in here. If you spot typos or whatnot, please feel free to point them out and I'll get them fixed when I'm able. ♥
> 
> Enjoy, everyone!!

Tony sat outside, telling himself that he wasn’t really hiding. And he _wasn’t_ , really. He’d told Jarvis that he was going outside, so _someone_ knew where he was. If he were _hiding_ then he would be hiding from everyone, and no one would have any idea where he was. He would hide somewhere no one could just stumble across him if they decided to actually come looking.

He was just sitting. If someone _really_ wanted to find him, all they had to do was walk outside.

If anyone even noticed he wasn’t where he was meant to be. But that would mean that someone would have to be paying attention enough _to_ notice.

Tony plucked some grass out of the ground, twisting it in his fingers before tossing it aside. He wished he could be inside for a while, play with his toys, read the comics he had stacked up but wasn’t allowed to touch. But being inside meant that he might get caught not doing his work. If he was out of sight, then it was possible that he would just be forgotten. If he was seen, then people would _remember_ , and they would remember he was meant to be somewhere, doing something he obviously _wasn’t_.

So he just stayed outside, and hoped he stayed forgotten.

“Hey.”

Tony’s head jerked up, and he squinted out into the sunlight. He was _not_ hiding in the shade of the house and the manicured bushes which were lined up all along one side. Beyond the shade, it was a bright spring day. One which would require sunglasses in order to survive properly, really, and looking out into the brightness from the dark made Tony’s eyes sting.

In the middle of all the brightness, there was the outline of a person. He’d been expecting – dreading – an adult, but the shape he could make out was short, probably about the same height he was.

“Are you okay? What’re you doing?”

Tony dropped the little pinch of grass he had in his fingers guiltily, like having that in his hand would prove that he was outside because he couldn’t go inside. “Nothing,” he said. “And I’m _fine_ , thank you. You never see a guy sitting outside?”

“Well, yeah,” the unknown kid said, and moved a little closer. There wasn’t a fence to stop him, and the idea of personal property being a place where one didn’t come unless invited appeared to be a foreign one to him. “But _you_ were looking like you were about to…”

The kid trailed off, thankfully. He didn’t like the direction that particular train of thought was headed, and didn’t want to hear what it was he looked like he was about to do. The boy stopped not too far from Tony, within the line of shade, so Tony didn’t have to squint to look at him anymore, but close enough that he had to tilt his head back in order to see him properly.

He was kind of a soft looking boy. Fairly pale, with dark hair which came down to his shoulders and a pouting mouth. He was also a little taller than Tony had thought, maybe an inch or two taller than Tony would be when he stood up. His clothes were… well, they had started out nice enough. Tony’s family was well off, and this kid’s clothes looked like the kind Tony wore, though Tony never wore green. But however nice the kid’s clothes had started out, now they were a mess of mud and rips. It looked like the boy had been through a tornado.

“My name’s Loki,” the boy said. “I live on the next street over from here.” The boy pointed the direction he meant, and Tony frowned.

“That way? But there’s just a bunch of trees that way.”

Loki grinned. He had a bright smile, and Tony couldn’t help the thought of ‘troublemaker’ when he saw it. It had that kind of tilt to it.

“There sure is. I live on the street _after_ the forest. There’s a little stream, too, and a bridge. Hardly anyone ever goes in there because they’re afraid of bears—“

Tony snorted. “There aren’t any _bears_ in the woods. It’s too small.”

Loki’s grin never left him. “Yeah. But if people _think_ that there are bears in there, then they don’t go in, and much _smarter_ people can go in there all they want and not have to share.”

Tony stared up at the boy. “You just told me, you know.”

Loki nodded. “I know. So now you don’t need to worry about being eaten by bears.”

Tony frowned, unsure what to think. He hadn’t really thought about going into the woods before. It had always seemed like a little bit _too much_ ‘outside’ when he said that was where he was going to be. He wanted to get away from life inside the house, but still felt like he ought to stick close by. But ‘woods’ was definitely ‘outside,’ and he hadn’t told Jarvis that he’d be staying really close…

And now that his attention had been brought to the woods, Tony felt a pull to go and explore. The day was bright and warm, but the woods were full of cool shadows and curling breezes, and he was certain there would be plenty in there to hold his attention, to distract him from all of the work which he _should_ be doing, but was keeping as far away from as possible.

It wasn’t really hiding if he wasn’t huddled in one place, either, right?

Tony stood up, brushing off his pants out of habit. When he looked at Loki, he saw that he had been right. The boy was a little taller than him. “My name is Tony,” he said, and stuck out his hand like he’d been taught to do with everyone. “Nice to meetcha.”

Loki looked at his hand. Rather than take it, he slapped it with his hand, like a low-five, startling Tony. Loki grinned at him, and his green eyes lit up with glee.

“Nice to meet you, too, Tony,” he said, the words made out of laughter. “You wanna come and play?”

Tony grinned right back. He would probably get into a lot of trouble for this, but he decided he really didn’t care.

“Yes!”

If Loki was going to lead him into trouble, then that was fine with him. It looked like trouble could be a lot of fun with the right company.

—•—

Tony wondered sometimes if Loki actually lived in a house, or if he just spent his whole life outside. Whenever Tony hung out with him, that's all they really did. They would explore the little strip of forest that existed between their streets, Midgard and Æsir. It never really occurred to Tony to invite Loki into his house. It was a place he was going out of his way to avoid, so why would he _invite_ someone else to come in as well?

Maybe that's why it took him a while to really notice that Loki never invited Tony to come over to his house, either. In fact, the boy never even really _mentioned_ his home, his parents, any siblings or friends… but he didn't seem to be avoiding it, either. Neither of them brought any of those things up, so maybe it was just a case of none of it being very important.

Tony only really noticed that he knew nothing about Loki's home or family, where it was he presumably went whenever the sun went down, on the day when Loki led him far into the woods, and showed Tony the fort he'd made.

It was a construct of branches and found bits of lumber, bicycle frames and ladders, wooden pallets and ripped old tarps. Basically any bit of trash which ended up in the woods and which could be turned into a bit of wall or roof, Loki had grabbed and incorporated into the fort.

It was the best thing Tony had ever seen.

Inside was a small treasure trove of even more found objects, of secret projects Loki was working on, a metal lock box full of books and comics and snacks, even a little bed in one corner for taking naps.

It was a glorious escape, a secret place to hide away. And it made Tony wonder if Loki actually did have a home, or if he just lived out in the forest like a fae.

_“You_ can come here,” he’d said when he showed the fort to Tony. “But don’t ever bring anyone else. This is a secret place where no one will be able to find us.”

Tony had snorted. “Who am I going to tell, Loki? Besides, this place is too cool, _why_ would I tell anyone?”

Loki had grinned wide at that, obviously pleased by the promise and the praise. “You can bring stuff here, if you like. There’s enough room, and you can come any time you like, even when I’m not here. It stays pretty dry when it rains. Unless it’s windy.” Loki frowned around at the walls a little. “When it’s windy the rain still gets in.”

Tony nudged him in the shoulder. “That’s because you were making it by yourself. I can help with it now. I’m pretty good at building, I bet we can get it to stay dry no matter what!”

Loki looked at him, his smile a little more hesitant, then looked around the fort again with an uncertain eye. “You think so? It would be nice to have it stay dry in storms…”

“Totally! You just watch, Lokes, we’ll turn this place into a perfect superhero mansion by the time we’re done!”

That got Loki to laugh a little bit, and to shove Tony back. For a boy who looked soft at first glance, Loki was actually really strong. Just looking at the fort, which he must have dragged together and hoisted and tied and what all else to get it to stick together, would have been enough to tell someone that. It was probably because of how active he was. Loki was always running through the woods, leaping over fallen trees, climbing the ones that were still standing, and generally just supporting the impression that he _lived_ in the woods. And might not be completely human.

Tony found himself rather taken with the idea that Loki might be some sort of… of faerie or an elf. Some young creature made of magic come from the woods to keep him company.

“Superheroes, huh? And what would we call ourselves, then?”

Tony thought about it. “Well… I think that I should be called the Whiz Kid. Or maybe just ‘the Genius,’ since I am one.” He ignored Loki’s stifled laughter and went on. “And _you_ can be the Warlock, since you like those magic comics so much. The Genius and the Warlock!”

“Hmm.” Loki wrinkled his nose at the names. “They sound kinda plain… What about something like ‘the Megamind’ and ‘the Sorcerer Supreme’?”

Tony wasn’t as kind about holding back his laughter. “Those are some of the stupidest names…” He fell over, clutching at his sides, trying to imagine them calling each other names like that.

“Oh, shut up,” Loki said, but he was also laughing. “It was _your_ idea!”

Over the next week they went through dozens of names, each one topping the last for just how ridiculous it was. It became one of their games, as they each invented names, trying to come up with names which would make each other laugh the hardest.

—•—

“Back, foul creature!” Loki intoned in a volume which even on a playground would have gotten a lot of attention. In the middle of the woods, though, and on the little bridge over the stream which ran between their two streets, there was no one at all to hear them.

At the moment Loki was defending the bridge – and therefore his people (street) – from the oncoming attack of the Great Villain Tony and the hordes of monsters he had at his back. Only Loki was there to defend the key point of entry, for only he had seen the attack coming, and it was he who would prove to be the hero should he be successful.

Which he wouldn’t be if Tony had anything to say about it.

“Out of my way, puny human!” He did his best to roar, but the effect was… He wasn’t very good at projecting. Not as good as Loki was. He settled for growling as fiercely as he could, baring teeth and snarling.

It looked as though Loki were trying not to laugh at his display. Tony hoped he didn’t. If Loki went off, then Tony wouldn’t be far behind.

“Never!” He managed, spreading his arms out wide to block Tony’s way across the bridge. It really was very narrow. “If you wish to attack the peaceful street of Æsir, you will have to make your way past me first!”

Tony threw his head back and gave his very best monster roar – they hadn’t decided what he was, but ‘monster’ was a pretty good catchall for villain – and then charged at Loki.

They had done play fighting before. Tony usually attacked head on, grabbing and trying to throw Loki to the ground and then… not really having any idea what to do next. He didn’t get into fight-fights. To do that would mean doing things like going to a regular school with other kids, or having siblings, and he did neither. He knew, in theory, what a _real_ fight would look like, but he didn’t want to _hurt_ Loki… so he just settled for getting him on the ground and holding on until the other boy tired out. Or something.

Except that Loki apparently _did_ have more experience with play fighting. He was quick and slippery, and more than half the time was able to either avoid getting held by Tony at all, or getting right out of it again. Most of the time Tony ended up flat on his back with Loki perched on him, grinning down at him until he cried uncle.

Tony didn’t mind either way. He was happy to have someone to play with at all, and no matter the outcome, they both wound up grinning by the end.

This time, Tony managed to get his arms around Loki’s middle, but not very well. Loki was backing away quickly, doing that weird twist he liked to do which would get him right back out of Tony’s grip—

And stepped right off the edge of the bridge.

Tony saw it, made a turn so quick he was pretty sure he tweaked his ankle, and made a second grab for Loki, this time to keep him from tumbling off of the bridge and into the stream.

It was partially successful. He caught hold of Loki, and Loki was able to catch hold of Tony back. Loki’s momentum and weight were too much. Rather than stopping Loki from going over the edge, Loki pulled Tony until they were both falling—

Tony landed hard on his chest, half hanging over the edge of the bridge, with Loki’s arms clasped in his hands. The wind was knocked out of him so he almost let go, but he held on tight, as did Loki, his fingers digging into his shoulders. He looked at Loki. His eyes were wide as his stared up at Tony, feet dangling another few feet away from the surface of the water. Tony tried to laugh. It was hard with the wooden planks pressing into his chest.

“They should really have given this thing guard rails,” he gasped.

Below him, Loki tried to return the smile, but it was obvious he was shaken. The green of his eyes were caught in the light of the sky, making them look even bigger and more afraid. “We’ll have to fix that later, won’t we?”

“Yeah. And paint it. This thing is so ugly.”

“It really is,” Loki laughed. It must have made him slip, because his grip suddenly tightened again, his face going tense and laughter cutting off. “I’m not sure how long I can hold on like this, Tony.”

He nodded, and tried to pull Loki back up. But Loki was _heavy_. He was thinner than Tony under all those torn clothes, but he was taller, and a lot of his slight frame was made of muscle. And Tony was hardly in a good position to pull him back up. Feeling around with his toes, Tony sought something to grab hold of with his feet, something to give him just a little more leverage to pull Loki back up and away from the water.

Eventually he had to concede defeat. “I don’t think I can pull you up, Lokes. You’re going to have to climb up or something.”

“What? Don’t be stupid, I can’t use you like a rope!”

“Well, _I_ can’t pull you up, I’m not that strong! The only other options are you climb up, or you go into the water!”

Loki looked down. From the way his face paled, he didn’t like the prospect. It wasn’t a particularly large or deep stream. In this spot the only real reason it looked even a little threatening was because it narrowed, making it deeper than it normally was and a little faster. It was probably why the bridge had been built here, because it was a shorter distance to reach across.

“It’s not that deep,” he said eventually. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to climb up, and I might hurt you. I think I should just go down.”

“What? Wait, Loki—!”

Loki didn’t wait. Tony still held on as tightly as he could, but Loki let go. There was a moment or two where Tony was able to hold up Loki’s weight completely on his own, but only a few. Loki was _heavy_ and without the extra help in holding him, Loki was soon slipping out of his grip.

Loki fell. It was probably only a few feet into the water, but Tony’s heart was in his mouth as he watched Loki hit with a gigantic splash. Could Loki swim? He’d never asked. And if he couldn’t swim, would Tony be able to go in and save him? He wasn’t the greatest swimmer, but the stream wasn’t too big, he’d probably be able to limp them to the shore.

He was already jumping up to his feet, ready to jump into the water when Loki came sputtering up to the surface. He was submerged up to his chest, but it didn’t look like he was actually swimming. It looked like he was standing.

Tony breathed out, his heart still feeling like it was about to just stop from going too fast.

“Loki! Are you alright?”

He looked up at Tony, hair heavy and sticking to his face, every bit of his clothes absolutely soaked through. He pulled a face up at Tony. “Do I look alright? I’m not drowning, though, so I guess I’m fine.”

Tony nodded, more relieved than he was likely to ever admit to, and then—

Then he jumped in after Loki.

He heard Loki yelling at him as he came down. His own thoughts were doing much the same. He didn’t have any explanation for why he jumped, no real reason for doing it – it just seemed like the thing to do, so he did.

He hit the water, sending up a spray. The water was _cold_ , and it stole his breath all at once when he hit and the surface closed over his head. He landed a little further along than Loki had, where it was a little deeper, and he had to half wade, half swim against the current to get to where he could stand next to his friend and not be carried away.

Loki was glaring at him. “Why did you do that?” He didn’t look nearly as impressed with Tony’s dive as he should have, Tony thought. “You might have landed on a rock or something! Or- or the stream might have carried you off, and then what?”

Tony shrugged, grinning. It was a little hard to grin properly when his teeth were trying to chatter. He hadn’t really thought about how cold it might be in the water. Or how gross it would feel to be fully clothed when he dove in. “It wasn’t _that_ bad, Loki, c’mon. You were fine when you went in. And besides, anywhere you’re going, I’m going too. It’s the rules.”

Loki frowned at him, his whole face scrunching up in exasperation. “The rules for what?”

“For being friends.” He nudged Loki in the shoulder gently, making the taller boy sway just a little bit. “Stupid.”

Loki snorted, looking away from Tony. But he didn’t argue, and they decided that the invasion of the monsters into Æsir would be called a draw for now, as both sides of the conflict needed to take a strategic retreat in order to bathe and get into dry clothes.

—•—

Running outside at night was probably a bad idea.

Running outside and into the woods without really paying attention to where he was going was also probably a bad idea.

Running outside during a thunderstorm was probably the worst idea of the three.

Doing all at once? That was just stupid.

And yet here he was.

Dinner had been bad. Howard had finally noticed that Tony hadn’t been keeping up on the million things he thought Tony should be doing. He’d noticed that Tony wasn’t around as much as he used to be, to be bossed around in person, and that it had to be done through Jarvis.

It had only taken the old man four months. It was probably a record for how much he really _was_ paying attention to his son, that it hadn’t taken a full year before he noticed something as trivial as Tony’s absence.

And really, it probably hadn’t been Tony’s absence from the house a good portion of the time which had really given Tony away. It was probably the projects themselves not progressing at the pace which Howard thought they ought to be.

However it had happened, he’d noticed at last, and it had all come out over dinner.

Tony was supposed to be keeping his focus on his studies. There was no time for foolishness. He had to work, to keep his eyes on his future and the things he would create and the lives he would change. Anything else was distraction and would totally ruin the course of Tony’s life if he attempted to pursue it.

Tony had listened. He’d argued back until the two of them were shouting at one another across the table, Howard red in the face, Tony with the beginnings of tears in his eyes. And then Tony had gone upstairs to his room, ostensibly to sleep.

When he’d gotten there, he’d packed up his backpack, put on his clothes, shoes and a raincoat, and left. The fact that it was night and there was a storm didn’t really register with him properly until he was well into the tree line.

He didn’t care. Even in the dark and rain with only a flashlight to help him through, he didn’t care. The woods had been an incredible retreat and solace the last four months. He didn’t care what his father said, he was never going to give up on his time here, or the one friend he’d made just to ‘focus on his future,’ whatever the old man thought _that_ meant. He would go where he wanted to and hang out with whoever he wanted.

For now, though, he just needed to get away. He couldn’t stand the idea of even being in the same house with Howard. He needed his space, to know that his father was further away from him than a few walls.

It wasn’t until he spotted the outline of the fort that he realized where it was he was going.

It wasn’t like he intended to live there, but… the fort was a place where he could escape. Loki had invited him to spend as much time as he wanted there, whenever he wanted. They’d even spent the last few months in improving it. It was much more solid, now, and didn’t leak when it rained – not even in rain like what was coming down now, half sideways in the wind which even the trees couldn’t fully shield him from.

It was a hideout. A little bit of safety away from home, where he could rest, sleep, and play on his Gameboy until he was ready to go back home.

_If_ he were ever ready to go back.

He shook his head. He’d have to go back. And he’d be more careful about the amount of time he spent outside, and stricter about finishing his projects so they didn’t pile up.

Howard wouldn’t find out again. He wasn’t going to take the woods and Loki away from him.

When he went into the fort, he was proud to see how dry it still was, even in the storm. He was also very, very _glad_ about how dry it was. Even with a raincoat on, he still felt like he’d gotten soaked through. With any luck, everything in his pack was still okay. It wasn’t until he was putting his flashlight down in a place which would keep the fort lit up, getting ready to take off his backpack and figure out what he was going to do now that he was here, that he realized he wasn’t alone.

There was a flash of lightning outside, quickly followed by a tremendous roll of thunder, close enough to make the ground under Tony’s feet shake with the force of it.

Over the noise of the thunder rocking through the fort, Tony heard it. A distressed squeak coming from the little pallet bed set up in the corner.

Tony swung the flashlight around to the bed, heart in his mouth even as he realized what it must have been. It was always possible that animals would get into the fort – it was made out of junk, even if it _was_ more weather proof now – but the sound which he’d heard was no animal. The sound he’d heard had been something like a call, cut off before it could be finished and turned into a half scream.

Sitting on the bed, bundled up in coats and wrapped in a blanket which looked as though it had been part of a set, was Loki. He looked even paler than normal, his eyes gone huge, his hair a mess. It looked as though he’d come through the rain as well, but earlier, so he was mostly dried out now.

“Loki? What’re you doing out here?”

Maybe he’d been right, and Loki was really an elf or something.

“What’re _you_ doing out here?” Loki fired back, the sharp mocking tone not really masking the tremble in his voice. “Don’t you have a home to go to or something?”

“Could ask you the same thing.” Tony looked over Loki carefully, taking in everything there was to see. It still looked like Loki: wild hair, big green eyes, clothes which had once been nice, but had taken the brunt of his wild habits when he was outside, with rips in both of the knees of his jeans, holes in his shirt, and spattered all over with mud and dirt. He looked the same – except for the fear in his eyes he was desperately trying to hide.

Loki shifted on the pallet, dropping his eyes away from Tony.

Tony was surprised. Loki _never_ looked away from Tony, not even when he caught the boy staring at him. He was never embarrassed about anything, so why was he looking away now?

“I didn’t want to stay at home,” he murmured, so quietly that the words were almost lost in the sound of the rain beating against the roof of the fort. “I _hate_ being at home when there’s a storm.”

Shrugging his pack off and carrying it in his hand, Tony walked over to the pallet where he could join Loki sitting down. It wasn’t huge, but there was more than enough room. There would have been even more if Loki had bothered to move out of the way. Which he didn’t. The jerk.

“Why do you hate being _at home_ during a storm? Is the roof there worse than this one or something?”

Loki snorted, still not looking at him. “No, the roof is fine. It’s just…” He picked at the loose threads of the ripped out knees, focusing on the way it spun round his fingers. “It’s just that thunder scares me,” he said, almost in a whisper.

Tony blinked at him. Normally he would be laughing at something like this. Not because it was funny, but because laughing always seemed to make Loki feel better. It encouraged him to laugh as well, and then they would both move on to whatever came next. Laughing would probably be a bad idea this time.

Tony looked around the little fort. A fortress made of sticks and trash, but it had become something of a home away from home for the two of them. They’d spent enough time inside that it didn’t even feel like something which they’d cobbled together. It felt _real_ , like a real little house they shared with one another. But in the end, it really was just a neatly arranged garbage heap. “Why would you come _here_ , then?” Tony asked. “The thunder has to be even worse here, doesn’t it?”

Loki nodded, looking absolutely miserable. “Yes.”

“Then why come here, if it’s worse?”

For a while Loki didn’t answer, and Tony took the risk of leaning over a little so that their shoulders touched, giving him a little nudge and then leaving his shoulder on Loki’s as a point of comfort and contact. After a minute or two, Loki sighed. “Because Thor is at home. And he always makes the storms even worse than this.”

“Thor?” It was the first time Loki had mentioned someone else in his life. It was weird – and a weird name, he decided.

Loki nodded. “My brother. He’s a little older than me and… he’s always really liked thunder and lightning. He likes to go out in it when he can. He used to drag me out into it, too. And when he found out that I didn’t like it, he… he started making fun of me about it.”

Tony scowled. It wasn’t a very good start, he thought, that the first time he ever heard about any of Loki’s family, he immediately decided that he didn’t like them. “No offence or anything, Lokes, but your brother sounds like a dick.”

It made Loki laugh in surprise, which was better than nothing. He could see the side of Loki’s grin, even with his head turned away. He still refused to look at Tony directly. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said with a small sniff. “He can be, sometimes. Other times he’s not so bad. But whenever there’s a storm like this, I…”

“Would rather be out with the thing which scares you than be inside where your brother could make it even worse than that.”

After the briefest of pauses, Loki nodded, sighing. “Yeah, I guess so. But—“

Tony didn’t find out what, because there was another flash, followed only a second later by a forest shaking roll of thunder. Loki squeaked again, hands clapping to his head to keep out the sound. His feet were on the pallet-bed with them, and he drew his knees up higher and closer to himself, going into a sort of seated fetal position.

Without giving it any thought, Tony wrapped his arm around Loki and pulled him closer to him. Rather than resist, or pull away, Loki actually leaned into Tony. Holding on to his friend, he could feel the way shivers worked through him. Tony held on tightly, and rubbed a hand up and down his back, the same way he could remember his mother doing for him whenever he’d been upset when he’d been younger.

When the shivers eventually passed, Tony took the risk of unzipping his pack and taking out another blanket, adding to the little pile they had for the pallet bed.

“Shove over, Lokes.”

Loki complied, and soon they were seated a little more comfortably, with Tony throwing blankets over the both of them, the flashlight nearby enough to be grabbed if needed. Under the blankets, even his cold and still wet self began to warm up, sitting close to Loki and keeping all the heat in one place.

“What are you doing, Tony?” It sounded like Loki was trying to sound intimidating, maybe a little confrontational. It didn’t really work. It was late, and his voice only sounded tired.

“I’m getting ready to go to sleep,” he said, shifting so they were a little closer under the blankets, and settling his back against the wall behind them. “You should, too.”

Loki huffed, probably about to say something, but a distant rumble, thunder from another part of the storm, made him snap his mouth closed again. He swallowed, and nodded. He began settling into a better position for sleep as well, so they were soon pressed right against one another, sharing the warm of blankets as they tried to settle enough for sleep.

Without the constant terror of thunder to keep him awake, or the need to get _away_ , Tony actually began to drift fairly quickly. It was only when Loki nudged him that he blinked back awake for a second. “Whu…?”

“I said, why did _you_ come out here, Tony?”

Tony thought about it for a second, and then shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, Lokes. I’ll tell you tomorrow if you like, but… go to sleep.”

Loki _tsk_ ed. Tony hated it when he did that. IT made it sound like Loki was centuries older than him. “Really? No reason at all for coming out here in the middle of the night during a storm?”

Tony smirked a little, head a bit muzzy from being half asleep. “There’s a reason. A good reason. _You_ were out here, and I already told you: anywhere you’re going, I’m going too.”

“Like you knew I was here,” Loki scoffed at him.

“Maybe not,” Tony agreed. “But who cares? Still found you.”

Loki shifted, moving into a more comfortable position and going quiet. After a few minutes Tony thought he might have actually managed to drift off into a doze. Then came his last muttered comment for the night, which made Tony smile.

“Found _you_ first.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had to stop or this would have just kept going on and on and on, aaaaa. 
> 
> Let's just assume that the two of them grew up together, bonding and becoming the best of friends. Eventually Howard sent Tony off to boarding school, but through some clever finagling, Loki got Odin to send him to the same one and the two of them got into hi-jinx while they were there. And then Tony went to MIT, and while Loki couldn't quite follow him there, he visited _a lot_ , somehow, while also pursuing his own degrees. When they both graduated, they worked together in one way or another, and when they hit their mid-twenties or so they both finally clued in and got together. ♥
> 
> (They totally painted that bridge in rainbow colors. >:3c)
> 
> \---
> 
> Thanks for reading, everyone!
> 
> You can find me on  
> Tumblr: [@ehtarwrites](http://ehtarwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [@ehtarwrites](https://twitter.com/ehtarwrites)  
> Discord: @ehtarwrites#4962 
> 
> If anyone wants to come say hi or chat about nerdy things, hmu! ♥


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